You Could Get Lost Out Here: the ILM Canadian Pop Music Results Thread

Homer Simpson, cursing loudly.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/23-shoreline.jpeg

23. "7/4 (Shoreline)" (2005)
Broken Social Scene
52 points/6 votes
video

jpg, jpeg, let's call the whole thing off...

Once more for good luck--photo and points correct, everything clicking together. (I will politely ask a mod later on to removed all the ugly mis-posting.)

https://phildellio.tripod.com/23-shoreline.jpeg

23. "7/4 (Shoreline)" (2005)
Broken Social Scene
53 points/5 votes
video

https://phildellio.tripod.com/22-eyes.jpeg

22. "These Eyes" (1968)
Guess Who
54 points/4 votes/one #1 vote
video

December '68 release, so the date is correct. Many Guess Who songs I like better, but I'm a huge fan.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/21-blinding.jpg

21. "Blinding Lights" (2019)
The Weeknd
54 points/6 votes
video

Will finish up Wednesday...indexed wanted to clarify that he cast a #1 vote for "The Weight." It was a numbered list with the points distributed evenly, so I wasn't sure.

I never knew about the Great Blizzard of '71 in Montreal until doing this.

I voted for "The Safety Dance". It was so big at the time. I remember we were on vacation in Miami Beach with my family and it played everywhere. The video was iconic too.

"All The Things I Wasn't" was on my long list. Great song.

Very atmospheric.

Blinding Lights is surprising given that I didn't think ILX cared much for that song.

Oh wow, "Limelight", "Let Your Backbone Slide" and "All the Things I Wasn't" were all on my ballot/playlist, which means I'm already doing better than I do on most ILM polls. I worried Rush would be votesplit so good to see "Subdivisions" also make it. I didn't vote for "7/4 (Shoreline)" but it was on my long list and I do love that groove. Weird to recall that I actually saw BSS on Canada Day one time when I was doing my MA in Toronto.

"Sundown" obv classic but I voted for a different Lightfoot song.

Ditto "Like a Hurricane"

I’ve voted for a surprising number of these. I’d have disqualified “For What It’s Worth” just because it’s a Stills (i.e. not Canadian) song — Neil’s involvement hardly seems like enough juice to make it Canadian — but it’s not my poll. 15 y/o me loved the Grapes of Wrath but they’ve aged exceedingly poorly to my ears. I was the dork who gave Etienne d’Aout 50 points. Not because it’s my fave song ever, but just because sometimes I just want more people to hear it and luxuriate in its exquisite sadness.

As I said above, I do get that. But you can't think of it as just Neil--of the other four guys in the band besides Stills, three are Canadian.

Aw shit, I’m glad we got Gordon Lightfoot in there, just under the wire.

That's so spooky.

I was listening to and commenting online a lot about Leonard Cohen the day he died, but didn't even know it because the news broke a few days after the fact. I still feel somehow guilty.

I really hope “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” ends up winning this, it’s one of the greatest songs and certainly the greatest Canadian song. Gord’s ability to write socially critical lyrics with razor accuracy and boundless compassion was astounding

I suspect there'll be another of his songs higher up.

My only vote that placed today was for the Grapes of Wrath, but I voted for other songs by some of the artists who placed (I limited myself to one vote per artist). In fact I thought I had voted for "Limelight" but I chose another Rush song.
I just listened now to all the songs I wasn't familiar with - mostly bright, hopeful synth pop. I was vaguely expecting that there would be some things that I have overheard at the supermarket, which is basically the only place I hear music I don't choose myself... but that probably won't be, unless we get a surprise turnout for the No Frills rap "Bag It Up".

I have definitely overheard Closer and Bright Lights at the supermarket, though I'm not sure those are the synth pop songs you are referring to.

Wow. For sure we have at least one more Lightfoot song coming up. RIP
Wonder how different this poll would have been if we did it two weeks later.

Aw shit, I’m glad we got Gordon Lightfoot in there, just under the wire.

Great to see The Grapes of Wrath in there, and one of their best tunes too, imho.

RIP

Coincidence, or something more?

As Gord would put it, "I'm Not Sayin'..."

23. "7/4 (Shoreline)" (2005)
Broken Social Scene
53 points/5 votes
video

― clemenza, Monday, May 1, 2023 4:55 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

One of my favorite songs of the 00s full stop, and so thrilled to see it rank this high.

Will finish up Wednesday...indexed wanted to clarify that he cast a #1 vote for "The Weight." It was a numbered list with the points distributed evenly, so I wasn't sure.

― clemenza, Monday, May 1, 2023 5:07 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Don't worry about it at all -- no need to adjust at this point -- but my list had points that were not evenly distributed...presumably this means "7/4 Shoreline" should be even higher!

re: the Honest Ed's image, I spent a few months working in Toronto a decade ago and would take the subway from downtown to Bathurst for a vegan restaurant I liked. Nice to see a familiar landmark in this rollout, as I'd completely forgotten it until the image popped up here.

now it's a condo :(

Ah, dammit--sorry, indexed. I'll take a look at that and recalculate. I won't start over, obviously, but if there are any changes, I'll at least make note of them before starting the Top 20.

I’m second guessing some of my votes for sure. I tried to balance personal affection with choices that were ‘fair’, but I think I skewed personal.

I did it in maybe half an hour, sticking with songs I already knew well and generally going by gut feeling/personal affection, while limiting it to one per artist. There was a mild skew towards Mulroney's second term and Chrétien's first. I second-guess nothing, obviously.

I was aiming for a cross-section of "impressions of Canada", not really a scientific weighting of the best songs. I mean, I know that there are about seven songs each on Hejira and On the Beach that are better than Aldo Nova's "Fantasy", but I wanted to capture a certain "being driven to hockey practice at 7 AM and listening to the car radio" feel, despite never playing hockey.
On a related note, I found myself indulgent towards potentially silly songs I associate with being a kid, and much less so towards music that came out after I started paying "serious attention" (roughly Xmas 1983). So early Loverboy made the cut but the later era was shut-out.

In essence, I had to do it my way, or no way at all.

my ballot was half "this feels very Canadian and reminds me of listening to the radio as a kid" and half "some of my favorite songs which happen to be Canadian"

anyway, enjoying this rollout, so far have from my ballot there's "7/4 (shoreline)", "after the gold rush" and "sprawl II"

Indexed: I definitely messed up. I think it was a day where a few came in, and I looked at the top and saw 20, 19, 18, and figured the songs were in reverse order but 10 points for everything. Stupid. Anyway, I see a few in there that I've already counted down, so a couple of ties will probably be broken. I'll recalculate tonight and post a list of the proper 21-40 (or more), and then tomorrow's Top 20 will be correct.

Never mind! (Or: nevermind!) The points were entered correctly. All I messed up on was in not identifying "The Weight" as a #1 vote, and in my post about distributing the points evenly (not sure why I thought that). I didn't, happily.

Ah glad to have not caused any issues! Thanks again.

Yesterday:

21. "Blinding Lights," The Weeknd - 54 ( 6 votes)
22. "These Eyes," Guess Who - 54 (4 votes, one #1 vote)
23. "7/4 (Shoreline)," Broken Social Scene - 53 (5 votes)
24. "The Safety Dance," Men Without Hats - 52 (6 votes)
25. "All the Things I Wasn't," Grapes of Wrath - 52 (5 votes)
26. "Barrett’s Privateers," Stan Rogers - 51 (3 votes)
27. "Let Your Backbone Slide," Maestro Fresh-Wes - 50 (6 votes)
28. (tie) "Sundown," Gordon Lightfoot - 50 (4 votes)
"So Long, Marianne," Leonard Cohen - 50 (4 votes)
"After the Gold Rush," Neil Young - 50 (4 votes)
"Subdivisions," Rush - 50 (4 votes)
32. (tie) "Étienne d’Août," Malajube - 50 (1 vote, one #1 vote)
"Like a Hurricane," Neil Young - 50 (1 vote, one #1 vote)
34. "For What It's Worth," Buffalo Springfield - 48 (6 votes)
35. (tie) "The House That Heaven Built," Japandroids - 47 (4 votes)
"Closer," Tegan & Sara - 47 (4 votes)
37. "Run Away with Me," Carly Rae Jepsen - 47 (3 votes)
38. "Limelight," Rush - 46 (4 votes)
39. (tie) "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)," Arcade Fire - 45 (5 votes)
"Both of Us," Jayda G - 45 (5 votes)
"Home for a Rest," Spirit of the West - 45 (5 votes)
42. "The Weight," the Band - 45 (4 votes, one #1 vote)
43. (tie) "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl," Broken Social Scene - 45 (3 votes)
"Early Morning Rain," Gordon Lightfoot - 45 (3 votes)

I'll start around noon tomorrow and finish up. I didn't count Stan Rogers as a #1, Matthew, because you gave it the same number of points as everything else...I'm a drag, a well-known drag.

I'll add literal spacing when I post the final list.

4 of my votes are on so far!

I think the only thing I voted for from this first lot was "Subdivisions." Always happy to see Men Without Hats love, even if they have better songs. Can't argue with "These Eyes," "After the Gold Rush," Lightfoot & Cohen. I realize Buffalo Springfield was 3/5 Canadian, but "FWIW" still feels wrong. Never cared for the Band, but can understand why others do. Roxy Music did a better "Like A Hurricane" IMHO. Picked a different Grapes of Wrath but am fond of this track. I dig Japandroids. Not feeling some of the others.

Only thing for me so far is Safety Dance. I kept it to one song per artist, and several have appeared with songs I didn't vote for, but when it came down to it I couldn't choose a Rush song so I left them off altogether.

three of my votes have landed so far (one was a surprise). there's about 10 left from my ballot that i would have expected to see in the top results, but there's no way 50% of what's left will have been things i voted for.
been listening to the nominations playlist and am surprised how many ubiquitous song from my youth were actually Canadian (Oh What Feeling, Sunny Days, Black cars). had no idea!

I didn't count Stan Rogers as a #1, Matthew, because you gave it the same number of points as everything else...

I also had Stan Rogers in a top space, though tied for points with two other songs.

i don't really get the balloting and i don't care lol. roll on

also xp Cheers!